The competitive classes have sections for fruit,vegetables, flowers, homecrafts, floral art floristry, winemaking and photography for adults, plus an array of creative sections for those aged under 17. Everybody is eligible to enter these classes and there are more than 50 trophies and £5000 of prize money to be won.

The competition classes schedule contains everything you need to know about entering the competitions.

Taunton Flower Show also incorporates the annual show of Somerset Association of Amateur Winemakers.

If you would like a copy of the 2019 competition classes brochure posted to you, please email us with your postal address.

Taunton Flower Show Master Gardener

The Master Gardener class is in the display classes.This is open to individuals and is designed for a gardener to showcase all-round gardening talent by exhibiting a collection of vegetables, flowers and fruit. We have a new cup that has been presented in memory of Les Pring to award to the winner of this class. More details about the class can be found on the Master Gardener page.

Food Categories

Textile Art

This year the Textile Art classes have been completely revised. The new themed classes have been introduced to allow exhibitors greater freedom of expression and encourage high levels of creativity and originality.

Entries will be judged on artistic interpretation of the theme and the sensitive use of materials. Technique, finish and presentation also form an integral part of the competition. Full details of the themes for Textile Art classes are shown in Division 6 of the Competitive Schedule. Please note that items of craftwork are not eligible in these classes. See Division 5 for Craftwork entries.

Creative Categories

Photography

The photography classes remain a popular and colourful event at the show and is an ideal way for competitors to take part in the show for the first time. This year we continue the Photography challenge cup which is designed for the very best and most spectacular photograhs. This sponsored by Porter Dodson and the PORTER DODSON PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE CUP will be awarded to the winner of this class. All the photography classes are aimed to encourage good presentation and style and the photographs will be judged on this as well as the artistic merit. Full details of the themes for the photographs are shown in the competitive schedule.

Young Peoples Classes

These classes are themed around entertainment. We are very pleased to be able to present the Taunton Flower Show Young Photographer of the Year. This open class will allow our young photographers to exhibit their very best pictures and we have a new trophy kindly donated by Porter Dodson to present to the winner. More details will be available on the Young Photographer of the Year web page.

Club Growing and Showing

This is one of the most spectacular classes at the show. Garden club members contribute to create a display of cut flowers, pot plants, fruit and/or vegetables. This is a great way for club members to work together on a team exhibit that can showcase the work and interest of the club. The space we make available is a table 1.8m long x 0.75m deep. It is against the side of the marquee so most clubs supply a back board to support exhibits and to make an impressive display. In our goal to encourage more clubs to enter this class, we are offering a first prize of £50 plus the Sampson Trophy. This year we also offer £15 expenses to every club that enters and we will also provide one free pair of show tickets for each entry. Further details see club growing page.

Flowers, Fruit and Vegetables

In the flowers and pot plant classes, we have reintroduced a class for three begonias and have introduced a new class for a display of ornamental grasses. We have completely overhauled the dahlia classes and we will now present the National Dahlia Society Silver Medal for the best dahlia exhibit. We have eased the pot restrictions on the standard fuchsias which will mean larger specimens can be exhibited. In the vegetable classes, we have reintroduced the championship vegetable class where a gardener can display a collection of 7 kinds of vegetable. These always make a tremendous display. We have picked up on the popularity of tomato growing and have widened these classes so that a greater variety of tomatoes can be shown.